The present invention pertains to patterns for marking objects, and more particularly pertains to a template for marking golf balls.
Over the last several decades, golf has become one of America's leading sports with sales of golf equipment and paraphernalia rivaling, for example, that of baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. The range of equipment and paraphernalia available to the serious player as well as the recreational aficionado ranges from golf clubs and bags to tees, gloves, spike shoes, and balls. While the recreational player may not want to have his or her equipment and paraphernalia marked for purposes of identification and prestige with a special design or unique monogram, it is common for the serious player to do so.
One piece of equipment which usually has some identifying mark is the golf ball. During a round of golf, players invariably lose golf balls from errant shots into the undergrowth of adjacent fields and woodlands, and also into streams and ponds which may form part of the fairways or be located adjacent to the fairways. The errantly hit golf balls may be found by groundskeepers or other golfers whereupon they are either returned to the clubhouse or pocketed by the finders. If the golf balls are inscribed or marked with the initials of the owner, or with a unique logo or monogram designating the owner, the likelihood of their return is increased.
Moreover, marking or inscribing golf balls with the owner's initials, or with a unique logo or monogram, may be done not only for the utilitarian purpose of identification but for aesthetic and personal reasons. A golfer whose equipment and paraphernalia carry or bear a unique and attractive logo or monogram will stand out in the clubhouse and provide the golfer with a measure of distinctiveness with respect to his or her fellow golfers.
In order to mark or inscribe a golf ball with a unique logo or monogram so that the representation is skillfully and artistically produced, more is required than simply holding the golf ball in one hand and marking or inscribing the golf ball with a pen, stylus, or other writing instrument with the other hand. Inscribing or marking even a single symbol on the golf ball requires patience and skill in that the golf ball must be held motionless in one hand while maintaining the continuous contact of the writing instrument against the hard, dimpled, curved, resistive surface of the golf ball with the other hand. Marking or inscribing the golf ball is made even more difficult if the initials, name, logo or monogram contain a mixture of letters, numbers, symbols, and graphical designs.
A number of devices for marking golf balls have been invented to facilitate the task. The Horne patent (U.S. Pat. No. 1,476,203) discloses a device for marking a golf ball which includes a flexible strip of steel which is wrapped around a golf ball. The strip has a plurality of evenly-spaced openings for receiving the type projecting portion of type blocks. Upper and lower flanges on each type block hold the block to the strip. In order to mark the golf ball, the individual secures the appropriately lettered type blocks to the strip with the type projecting portions facing inwardly toward the golf ball. The strip is then bent into a cylinder and the golf ball is placed within the cylinder so that its surface abuts the lettered surface of the type projecting portions of the type blocks. A pivotable handle which attaches to the opposite ends of the strip is then closed, and this closing action tightens the strip around the ball simultaneously forcing the lettered surface of each type block into the surface of the golf ball. This results in a series of impressions being inscribed into the surface of the golf ball which can take the form of the owner's name, initials, monogram, and telephone number.
While capable of marking a golf ball, the Horne device is cumbersome in that it does not allow the individual to quickly and easily mark a golf ball with various combinations of letters, numbers, and other symbols. In addition, the fact that only nine openings are shown in the strip for receiving type blocks necessarily limits the range of symbols that can be impressed into the outer surface of a golf ball. Therefore, there is a need for a golf ball marking device which is easy to use, quickly positionable about the golf ball, and includes a wide range of symbols for marking golf balls with a variety of words, phrases or logos.